Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Pentacat]

that is incorrect... the FREE DINING period began on Sept. 2nd (yesterday) - good try though to make your point

Okay maybe no Free dining for the weekend but.......not exactly a discount free period. There's probably less than 30 blackout days out of the year where there are no discounts these days. Welcome to the Disney Discount Decade.

4/2/13-6/3/13 5%-35% off Annual Passholder room-only rates (lower rates if booked by 3/31/13)2/5/13, exp 6/3/13

4/2/13-6/3/13 5%-35% off Florida resident room-only rates (lower rates if booked by 3/31/13)3/25/13, exp 6/3/13

4/2/13-6/14/13 15%-30% off room-only rates for Disney’s Visa cardholders12/27/12, exp 3/31/13

4/2/13-6/14/13 package deal for Disney’s Visa cardholders with 15%-30% off room rates and discounted 4- to 10-day tickets12/27/12, exp 3/31/13

4/2/13-6/14/13 15%-30% off general public room-only rates1/3/13, exp 3/31/13

4/2/13-6/14/13 package deal for general public with 15%-30% off room rates and discounted 4- to 10-day tickets1/3/13, exp 3/31/13

 

[PorterRedkey]

Just an advance warning, the talk has nothing to do with new E-Tickets or even C-Tickets.

Okay, so it's a D_ticket!

 

[WDWDad13]

Okay, so it's a D_ticket!

Maybe a parking ticket? lol

 

[bhg469]

yet you're on a Disney message board like the rest of us

Because when I joined this forum almost 10 years ago... Yikes!! Anyway when i joined this forum I was gung ho Disney and for the reasons I stated. The parks are more than cinderella and little mermaid. Only the past few years have been so obvious that the real fans don't matter. Universal is indeed doing much better for people like me, when in the past they weren't up to snuff.

 

[Travel Junkie]

Also hearing some Anaheim pals tell me that show quality issues have risen 'greatly' since Michael Colglazier has taken over.

I can attest to this. Splash is pretty bad and some other attractions are beginning to show wear and tear. RSR has been fixed but that has to do more with Pixar's team making sure issues are addressed than TDA.

Disneyland has also cut their park hours for much of September. Sound familar WDW?

 

[asianway]

All things that Disney would normally have to pay on their own.. but instead Disney gets the guests to pay for it out of their own pocket, and pay for the privilege to do it!

Oh, and who is Disney paying to do all that work you are paying for? If Disney hires 'themselves' to do the work, there is profit margin on all those dollars spent too. That's the kind of 'hidden' money made in such ventures.

Disney built a property... then gets to charge a crazy premium that pays for the property many times over.. so they get all this money up front. But what about the long run? Oh, Disney gets the customer to pay for the operating costs of the place... and Disney gets the opportunity to make money on selling the 'owners' those services. Oh, and on top of that, all those 'owners' then go and spend all their discretionary dollars at your other businesses too. Then, as icing on the cake, the customers have a huge incentive that acts like a ball and chain to ensure they keep coming back for decades.

Selling timeshares in this regard is an accounting wonderland for Disney.. a captive audience that pays YOUR bills AND gives you all their other money too!

You are 100% correct - the sharing of expenses is one of the most attractive things when they add a mixed use building to an existing resort. Also the reason you see things like the BLT allowing owners to use the hotel pool but Contemporary guests cant use the BLT pool. This isnt done as a perk for owners, rather this way they make the owners pay 100% of the BLT pool plus a percentage share of the main and "teen" pools. Genius

 

[WDW1974]

that is incorrect... the FREE DINING period began on Sept. 2nd (yesterday) - good try though to make your point

The free dining deal is almost year round for visitors from the UK and frequently from August on for USA residents. I am not talking about a two-day period where it isn't ... let's focus on the big points.

 

[WDW1974]

The Marvel characters in casinos are from a contract prior to Disney buying Marvel. Has nothing to do with lobbyists "owning" politicians. It sounds better, but it isn't true.

Way to go, Matt. Again twisting two points together. (BTW, do you get alerts in your pants when I post since it seems like you don't post much when I am not around ... nah, sure that's just a coincidence!)

If you have a contract that you can produce between Disney and WMS, I'd love to see it. Of course, even Disney breaks contracts or pays to get out of them. They are staunchly anti-gaming, so one would be hard put to fathom how they would possibly want to see Spidey on a brand new slot machine (one that could easily attract the eyes of children walking thru a casino to get to their room or have dinner with their folks).

Marvel had a deal to build a theme park in Dubai. That came to an end very quickly when Disney took over.

Marvel had a deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute The Avengers and Iron Man 3. That came to an end when Disney took over.

Disney bought Marvel in 2009. It is 2013. Oh, and slot machine distrubuters generally have short term deals with specific IP because if a machine isn't popular on a casino floor, they want to replace it with something else.

Here's the press release on the new Spidey machine (funny how The Disney Parks Blog didn't mention this!)
http://now.wms.com/winninglines/2012/09/spider-man-swings-into-action/

Disney is again being hypocritical and hoping no one looks closer. I doubt the O-Town Sentinel will. Maybe someone should Tweet Jason Garcia?

 

[luv]

...Attendance at deluxe resorts was abysmal with one barely hitting the 35% mark.

...Finally, I am up to date with Breaking Bad, so feel free to chat away.

35% - If that is accurate, they need to step up, take note and seriously change their ways.

For whom do you think the bell was tolling? Jesse? Walt? Both? (I honestly don't know, but think for both. Jesse more, though. We know Walt has to be alive later.)

I like how everyone is thinking murder now...Walt, Skylar, even Hank (Mr. Good Guy) is willing to sacrifice Jesse to suit his purposes...and Marie is googling how to kill people. More of Breaking Bad at its best.

Taking bets on the song they close the show with! "Albuquerque" by Neil Young?

I am still ed that this is all kicked off by the ricin cigarette, since Walt never used it to poison Brock, but whatever. Along for the ride and can't stop now!

 

[tirian]

Also hearing some Anaheim pals tell me that show quality issues have risen 'greatly' since Michael Colglazier has taken over.

But do the plush animals wave as you walk by? It's a well-known technique to create MAGIC.

 

[stevehousse]

You're grasping at straws to try and prove your point but I understand

I don't think anyone is grasping at straws. UK visitors do get free dining plan just about year round and free dining in th US is between sept-dec!

It's easy to see that even with these promotions going on all the time now for the last few years to try and lure more guests to stay on property that it isn't working like they want it too...

With promotions like that wdw should be booked and extremely full and that's jut not the case...

I think if they want those promotions to actually benefit them they would have to greatly reduce daily hotel prices because that is the main reason people choose to stay offsite! Wdw hotels are way overpriced and even with free dining it still isn't worth it to many...

 

[PhotoDave219]

35% - If that is accurate, they need to step up, take note and seriously change their ways

Yes. I heard the same thing, exact same number about a monorail deluxe resort's occupancy for this week.

 

[bhg469]

35% - If that is accurate, they need to step up, take note and seriously change their ways.

For whom do you think the bell was rolling? Jesse? Walt? Both? (I honestly don't know, but think for both. Jesse more, though. We know Walt has to be alive later.)

I like how everyone is thinking murder now...Walt, Skylar, even Hank (Mr. Good Guy) is willing to sacrifice Jesse to suit his purposes...and Marie is googling how to kill people. More of Breaking Bad at its best.

Taking bets on the song they close the show with! "Albuquerque" by Neil Young?

I am still ed that this is all kicked off by the ricin cigarette, since Walt never used it to poison Brock, but whatever. Along for the ride and can't stop now!

Fly me down there set me up with a room in the grand Floridian. I'll walk down the halls knocking on every door and count how many people are there.

 

[luv]

Yes. I heard the same thing, exact same number about a monorail deluxe resort's occupancy for this week.

I wasn't doubting him! I'm sorry if that's how it sounded. I wasn't writing between the lines.

I'm just saying that if they have those sort of occupancy rates (and on a holiday weekend), they need to run their hotels differently...which I've said many times before, lol.

It is often said, but rarely heeded...it's a lot easier to keep people than it is to get them back. Disney needs to step up now. They're already late.

 

[luv]

Fly me down there set me up with a room in the grand Floridian. I'll walk down the halls knocking on every door and count how many people are there.

Sure, no problem! You want First Class or Coach?

 

[djlaosc]

The free dining deal is almost year round for visitors from the UK and frequently from August on for USA residents. I am not talking about a two-day period where it isn't ... let's focus on the big points.

As I've said already - we've been booked with free dining for over 3 months for 15 months time!

UK Free Dining for 2014:

For Arrivals between 1 Jan 2014 - 8 Apr 2014 and 27 Apr 2014 – 30 Nov 2014. That is a total of 11 nights not covered by free dining (if you arrive on 8 Apr staying 21 nights, that takes you to 28/29 Apr, and if you arrive 30 Nov staying 21 nights, that takes you to 20/21 Dec) - that means that only the nights of 21 Dec-31 Dec are not covered for 2014!

This offer has been/will be available from 25 April 2013 - 5 Nov 2013.

It will be interesting to see what happens if they ever decide to remove free dining!

 

[Yensid1974]

You're grasping at straws to try and prove your point but I understand

no you don't

 

[WDWFanDave]

The free dining deal is almost year round for visitors from the UK and frequently from August on for USA residents. I am not talking about a two-day period where it isn't ... let's focus on the big points.

I won't get into a debate about dates, etc, but to me, it does seem like they are having to use the 'free dining' to drive business more and more; and with the most recent round of offers being so close to the actual dates (announced for booking beginning 8/1 with arrivals at the end of September), it does come across as a knee-jerk reaction to dismal bookings into the fall period.

That being said...I am planning a visit in the not too distant future, with the 'free dining' (but I know there's 'no free lunch' in this world), and I think overall it's a reasonably decent value...one that continues to get better in my eyes with all this talk of low attendance

ETA: and, my comment about 'debates' wasn't directed at you, '74! Seems as though there are more than enough folks that will pull up all the details/dates, etc., without me having to do that.

 

[WDWDad13]

Wdw hotels are way overpriced and even with free dining it still isn't worth it to many...

I agree with you

Honesty I'm a DVC member and this December I'm bring my parents and we're trying out bonnet creek for that reason. Cost and space. We'll see what it's like

 

[WDWDad13]

....a side note in free dining though they had more blackout dates on them this year as well as non eligible resorts then they have in the past so it depends on how you look at it